The Book

There is one Book, and only one,
that embraces all the heights and depths of human nature.
It sounds every sorrow,
answers every cry of the human heart,
and speaks to every age and condition of men.

The Bible belongs to those elemental things
like the sky, the wind, and the sea.
It is as free as the air,
as universal as the light.

It belongs with bread and wine,
with the kisses of little children,
and with tears beside the grave.

It is the Book of humanity,
because it is the Book of life.
~TH Darlow. 1927

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“The Book Our Mothers Read”
by John Greenleaf Whittier (circa 1890)

We search the world for truth; we cull
The good, the pure, the beautiful,
From graven stone and written scroll,
From all old flower-fields of the soul;
And, weary seekers of the best,
We come back laden from our quest,
To find that all the sages said
Is in the Book our mothers read.